BIM on the Rocks

Culvert Analysis in SSA

Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis offers users the ability to perform runoff calculations and hydraulic routing calculations in a single package.  This combines the best of both worlds.

SSA’s hydraulic calculations are founded in the EPA SWMM calculations which performs the one-dimensional Saint Venant flow equations. The Saint Venant equations consist of the continuity and momentum equations for conduits and a volume continuity equation at nodes.  What this means is culvert entrance and exit losses are computed not on the nodes themselves, but rather on the pipe ends.

Let’s dissect how this happens.

1. Open the SSA Sample Culvert file.  (C:\Program Files (x86)\Autodesk\SSA 2013\Samples\Culvert\Culvert.spf)
2. Double Click on the Culvert Pipe shown in the image above.  The Shape definition is described as a “Culvert”.  In many cases, if you exported your Civil 3D Pipe network, the imported pipe may be just a “Pipe”.  
3. By selecting Culvert, the available properties of the conveyance link changes.
4. The HDS-5 Culvert type and Culvert Entrance properties become available.  Be sure to visit the Flow Properties section immediately below and properly set the Entrance and Entrance Losses.

The model is set for analysis. 

Here is one tip when exporting your Civil 3D pipe network.  If the Part Matching Default Settings on Export, set the upstream structure to Headwall, SSA imports that structure as a Junction, and sets the following downstream pipe to a Culvert.

One could conceivably use the Part Matching Customization Settings in SSA to match set a specific part family to a culvert, but that is a topic for another day.

Volumes Dashboard Extension for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012

Every Thursday morning, I have a meeting with Dave Simeone, Nick Zeeben and other team members that prefer to remain anonymous. Here is a picture of Dave as he reminds me that I still have not talked about the Volumes Dashboard Extension which is available on the Autodesk Subscription Center. If I don’t get this posted soon, he’s going to unleash his pet fisher cat on me.

Volumes Dashboard gives you tools to aggregate the results of multiple volume calculations. For example, let’s say I have a road design. I have an existing ground surface and a proposed ground surface that is linked to the road corridor. My road is broken into three phases and I’d like to know the total cut/fill as well as the cut/fill for each individual phase.

Using the dashboard, I create a volume surface and assign boundaries for each phase. As I work through iterations that affect the proposed surface, such as a profile adjustment, I can see the effect in real time on the dashboard. I can also create reports at any time.

I created a video introduction to how this tool works. I posted it to youtube (embedded below). I will make it available for download shortly- typepad doesn’t seem to want to let me upload it right this second.

Free Online Recordings to Study For the Certification Exams #AU2011

Many of the product certification exams will be offered for free at Autodesk University this year.

Find the location and hours for Autodesk Certification at AU.

Learn about the exam topics and take a free assessment test..

 

As part of the lead up to Autodesk University in Las Vegas, there are free recorded preparation classes available to help you study for the product certification exams. There are classes for Revit Architecture, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, 3DS Max, Maya, and Inventor available for free now. Watch the classes, take good notes, and study so that you are ready for the exams when you arrive in Las Vegas.

These recorded classes are also a great way for anyone to study Autodesk products and prepare for certification. If you won’t be at Autodesk University, you can take the certification exam at your local certification center. Learn more about certification centers here.

CI3863
Incredible AutoCAD® Civil 3D® Users: Prove Your Credibility with Civil 3D Certification, Part 1
Michelle Rasmussen
View the class

CI3865
Incredible AutoCAD® Civil 3D® Users: Prove your Credibility with Civil 3D Certification, Part 2
Michelle Rasmussen
View the class

I watched the Civil 3D class, and it gives a nice overview of the tools highlighted in the certification exam, as well as giving you some tips on taking the exam itself. Michelle talks about marking questions, time management during the exam and how to efficiently answer certain types of questions.

Take advantage of the online resources, but if you are a book person like myself, you might want to order copies of two of my favorite Civil 3D texts:

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012 Essentials (Autodesk Official Training Guide: Essential) by Eric Chappell

Mastering AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012 (Autodesk Official Training Guides) by Rick Graham and Louisa Holland

Civil 3D 2012 Bridge Modeler Available on Labs

Dave Simeone is totally mad at me. This is a picture of Dave when he is really angry.

It seems that I have been too busy trying to get a jump on my AU packing to notice that several of his tools were released last week. Look, Dave, it’s hard work cramming two monitors, a set of hot rollers and six pairs of nearly identical black boots into a suitcase! This could take weeks.

The freshly updated Bridge Modeler for Civil 3D 2012 has just been posted to Autodesk Labs.

The Bridge Modeler for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012 technology preview focuses on 2 workflows:

1. Purpose-built workflow for modeling bridge road, barriers, piers, abutments, and bearings for bridge types including:

   • Concrete Box Girder
   • Concrete Slab
   • Concrete Slab with Girders

2. Ability to extract strings along a bridge and create Civil 3D alignments which can be then used to display key bridge elements onto Civil 3D profiles.

Those of you who have been using the 2011 version of the Bridge Modeler for AutoCAD Civil 3D technology preview will find the following improvements:

• Support for Civil 3D 2012
• Variable height girders (steel girder type)
• Independent control over girder type by span
• Independent control over girder spacing, symmetry, number, etc. by bridge span
• Ability to create Civil 3D alignments and profiles from bridge strings (e.g., lowest girder per span, top/bottom of barrier, etc.)
• Resolution of miscellaneous stability issues

Dave also posted two overview videos about the Bridge Modeler on youtube. if you can’t access youtube, I’ve posted the links to a direct download below.

Modeling Overview on Youtube

Download the Autodesk Labs: Bridge Modeler for AutoCAD Civil 3D - Modeling overview video

Bridge Modeler for AutoCAD Civil 3D String Extraction on Youtube

Download the Autodesk Labs: Bridge Modeler for AutoCAD Civil 3D - Bridge string extraction video

Here are some people that Dave isn’t mad at:

Angel's Civil 3D Thoughts: Bridge Modeler for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012

Bridge Modeler for Civil 3D 2012 « Total CAD Systems' Blog

Please find Dave at Autodesk University this month and tell him that I’m really not such a bad egg. He is leading three unconferences, which are a unique chance to interact with Autodesk leaders in a small group setting.

CI6740-U
Rail Track Design Using Autodesk Civil Solutions
Dave Simeone
Unconference
December 01, 2011 10:00AM

CI6741-U
Bridge Modeling Workflow Steering Committee
Dave Simeone
Unconference
December 01, 2011 3:00PM

CI8900-U
Virtual Construction for Civil Infrastructure Projects
Dave Simeone
Unconference
November 30, 2011 8:00AM

A Master Planned Community in Three (or One Hundred?) Acts

I really enjoy listening to This American Life. They tend to break up their show into acts. I also like reading Girl’s Gone Child. She is breaking up the story of her new twins into acts. Since it is Thursday afternoon and I am out of original ideas, I’m going to steal theirs.

If you’ve ever worked on a master planned community, (or an area structure plan, or neighborhood design report, or zoning change application) you can relate to the idea of the project happening in pieces. Maybe you start on paper or you get some paper from the planner (as I mentioned the other day.)

Then the client or the planner comes back and says that they want something more iconic. Or curvy. Or whatever.

So you get it into Map 3D and build some basemap information. Then you evolve into Civil 3D, and maybe take it out to Impression for some super early 2D sketching. It’s still rough, but you figure you are starting to get a better handle on it.

And just when you think you really know what you are doing, the architect comes to you with the concepts of the buildings, or residential products, or single family homes.

Then the environmental agency says there is no way you are getting approved for a zoning change without a stream restoration. And the transportation planner at the DOT says you need a new connection to the light rail system and a much better entrance to the arterial road.

And you have no idea what that all really means. How much room does a hospital really take up? You know the footprint, but what does that mean in 3D? How tall should the condos be? What is the implication of having lanes with parking behind vs. recessed garages?

Arnab and I have been working on a master plan as a team along with some external engineers and architects. The process has been greatly improved by using Infrastructure Modeler. I know, I work for Autodesk. I have to say that. But… really. I cannot tell you how useful it has been for communication with each other. The “Oh, I see it now!” moments of clarity happen daily. Sometimes hourly. Or minute-ly.

We’ve changed our minds completely several times when it was still early enough to change. We’ve added things, tried things, erased whole villages and tried again.

I will do my best to document the process over the next few weeks in as many acts as it takes, because it is a story worth telling. A story of starting rough and tweaking, changing, evolving. About not fretting over perfect just yet because you are busy being a hungry caterpillar in the hopes of someday becoming a butterfly. Or maybe a luna moth. That has yet to be determined.

Finishing a Project 60 Days Ahead of Schedule, you say?

I didn’t even need to read the story on our Civil 3D customer success story site. The City of Riviera Beach had me at their plan and profile sheets. Look at this- I would mat, frame and hang this baby on my office wall.

Civil 3D helped us complete the design 60 days ahead of schedule and save $30,000 in design fees through increased productivity and efficiency. We expect to save even more each year and plan on using Civil 3D on many more projects.
—Ricardo Wiswell, Engineering Technician, The City of Riviera Beach

The city had funds from Communality Development Block Grants to provide road rehabilitation to neighborhoods in need. The project replaces water lines, subgrade, base rock, pavement, curbs and sidewalks.

One of the things that stands out to me is that they acknowledge that they hired their reseller to do some setup and training during the project, which paid off well.

The City of Riviera Beach (pdf - 895Kb)